Publication
Title
Twitter just exploded : social media as alternative vox pop
Author
Abstract
News media regularly include the voice of the man or woman in the street alongside that of the actors involved in a news story. Journalists use these vox pops to give an impression of public opinion. With the coming of social media, access to peoples opinions has never been so easy. Little research exists about how social media (Twitter in particular) are used by journalists to describe public opinion. This is the question this research aims to answer by using a combination of a qualitative and a quantitative content analysis of Dutch and Flemish news websites. We found several patterns regarding the use of Twitter vox pops. First, we found Twitter to be regularly used as a representation of public opinion. Second, many items generalised these opinions to larger groups with strongmostly negativeemotions. Third, when referring to Twitter, the articles used (abstract) quantifiers and hyperbolic terms (commotion, explosions) to imply an objective basis for these inferences about the vox Twitterati.
Language
English
Source (journal)
Digital journalism. - Abingdon, 2013, currens
Publication
Abingdon : Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group , 2016
ISSN
2167-0811 [print]
2167-082X [online]
DOI
10.1080/21670811.2016.1161493
Volume/pages
4 :7 (2016) , p. 910-920
ISI
000387225900011
Full text (Publisher's DOI)
Full text (open access)
UAntwerpen
Faculty/Department
Research group
Project info
The fifth estate or an echo chamber of the fourth estate? The impact of social media on sourcing practices and agenda-setting in journalism.
Publication type
Subject
Affiliation
Publications with a UAntwerp address
External links
Web of Science
Record
Identifier
Creation 12.04.2016
Last edited 02.10.2024
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